GUNMAN IN MALL MAY HAVE HAD HELP

--Police continue to investigate whether a man they think chased his boss through Sawgrass Mills mall with a gun last weekend was helped by others during his failed robbery.

Troy Donahue Bennett, 22, of Plantation, is suspected of trying to force his supervisor at the Polo Jeans clothing store, at gunpoint, to let him into the shop and open its safe.

"We're not disregarding the possibility that there may have been others," Sunrise Police Department spokeswoman Terri Spongross said. "It's just an option."

Customers at the Oasis entertainment plaza scurried for cover when a gunman chased his supervisor through the mall.

The chase ended inside a crowded Cheesecake Factory restaurant where police said the gunman shot his supervisor. One of the shots during the Fourth of July chase also is believed to have injured a bystander, Michael Azizi, a 41-year-old California resident.

Padilla was in serious condition at a local hospital on Wednesday. Azizi was listed in fair condition. Bennett is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and other offenses.

Spongross would not comment on why her department is considering the possibility that others assisted Bennett.

Police have not increased their presence at the mall, she said, believing the incident was isolated.

"We don't feel as though the mall is being targeted," she said. "This was an incident that could happen anywhere."

Sunrise has at least one police officer on duty inside the mall and another in the parking lot at all times, Spongross said. Sawgrass Mills also employs its own security guards. A spokesman for the mall said its policy was not to reveal the number of security officers it kept on duty at any one time.

Some businesses in the mall also pay to have their own off-duty officers in stores, Spongross said. A spokesman for one of the mall's tenants said the incident has not shaken store owners' confidence in the mall's security.

"I see police officers and mall security all the time patrolling all over," said GameWorks manager John Zoda.

Since the incident, he said security officers have taken a more visible presence around the mall's shops.

Sean Cavanagh can be reached at scavanagh@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2009 .